The Ekiti State government has established an eight-member committee on Food Security tasked with supporting farmers and bolstering local food production.
The initiative aligns with the objective of curbing food prices and tackling hunger within the state.
The committee, led by Mr. Ebenezer Boluwade, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, includes key members such as Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, the Commissioner for Finance; Mr. Oyeniyi Adebayo, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning and Performance Management; Dr. Moyo Ekundayo, the Special Adviser/Director General of the Office of Transformation and Service Delivery; Mrs. Peju Babafemi, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development; Dr. Oyebanji Filani, the Commissioner for Health and Human Services; and Mr. Odunayo Ayeni, the Special Adviser on Governance.
Rt. Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun, State Commissioner for Information, made this known in a statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti on the outcome of the meeting of the State Executive Council held on Tuesday.
The Commissioner explained that the committee was to come up with strategy to mitigate food crisis.
Reiterating the commitment of Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration to the general wellbeing of residents, Rt. Hon. Olatunbosun stressed that food security goes beyond adequate food supply, adding that the administration considers it to include availability, accessibility and utilization of food as well as the vital role of trade in the equation.
He assured that the State Government would continue to make farming attractive in the State and move farmers from the, hitherto, subsistent farming to improved mechanized/commercial farming.
Olatunbosun highlighted some of the administrations interventions in agriculture in the State to include land clearing for cluster farming in about 30 points within the state aimed at promoting and increasing productivity in maize, rice, and cassava production, distribution of maize to livestock farmers, distribution of SF2 Solar Irrigation Pumps to farmers, facilitation of low interest loans under Ministry of Trade, Industry, investment and cooperatives to benefit cooperative farmers, introduction of the State Tractorization Subsidy Scheme, and renovation of moribund Agricultural Farm buildings to accommodate the Livestock Development Centre(LDC) and Ekiti Youth in Urban Farming project (EYiUF).
Other Government’s interventions are: payment of N20M counterpart fund for Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES), establishment of 2 hectares model polyclonal cashew farm/scion garden, sales of 12,000 hybrid cocoa seedlings at 50% subsidy to farmers, sales of 5,000 polyclonal cashew seedlings at 50% subsidy to farmers, 50% subsidy on tractorization to farmers, enumeration of non-exhaustive crops on 250 hectares of land, Overhauling of the poultry pens at Livestock Development Centre (LDC) and construction of drainage system at the poultry site at Erifun as well as renovation of the existing borehole for steady supply of water at the poultry site amongst others.